ORDER PACHYDERMATA. 347 



years old they may be said to be adult : though they have 

 a great affection for their young, it is understood that these 

 suck indifferently all the females in the herd to which they 

 belong. They are gregarious, in herds of about 100, and 

 inhabit the humid forests and vicinity of rivers, in which 

 they swim with great ease, sometimes having no part 

 above the surface of the water but the end of the proboscis 

 through which they respire. When they quit the water they 

 are fond of collecting the soil and dust with the proboscis, 

 and covering their body with it. 



Though gregarious in their habits, solitary wild Elephants 

 are sometimes met with, but these are always observed to 

 be males, and are in general extremely furious, attacking 

 everything they meet, and doing the greatest damage. It 

 seems probable that these have been driven by stronger 

 rivals from the herd. 



It is the opinion in India that they live three centuries, 

 and several now in the service of the East India Company 

 were old when they came into possession of the Europeans 

 upwards of eighty years ago. These old animals, however, 

 dislike to rise from the ground, and are at first unwilling 

 to move forward, piping an angry note of dissent. 



It appears probable, though it is not determined, that 

 there may be more than one variety of the Asiatic Elephant 

 distinguished by the size of the tusks ; those of the females 

 are in general less than those of the males. These tusks 

 weigh sometimes as much as 150 pounds the pair. 



The fine specimen of the Asiatic species in Mr. Cross's 

 collection at Exeter 'Change, which he has had many years, 

 measures between ten and eleven feet in height, and weighs 

 at least, by computation, between four and five tons. This 

 huge mountain of flesh consumes daily three trusses of hay, 

 and about two hundred weight of carrots and other fresh 

 vegetables, together with from sixty to eighty gallons of 

 water; this animal is observed, when turning the proboscis 



